Admirals Succumb to Heat

Milwaukee, WI--The Admirals surrendered the final three goals of the game as they dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Abbotsford Heat at the BMO Harris Bradley Center Tuesday night.

The first goal of the game came when Austin Watson got a pass from Miikka Salomaki coming across center ice. Watson flew past a defender and wristed one top shelf, that beat Abbotsford goalie Joni Ortio glove side at 10:30 of the first period.

The Admirals were able to capitalize off a boarding penalty from Abbotsford’s Michael Ferland to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Miikka Salomaki won afaceoff back Taylor Beck. Beck then found Simon Moser backdoor for a one-timer with only 62 seconds left to play in the first period.

Abbotsford cut into the lead to 2-1 just 2:24 into the second period when Max Reinhart at the top of the right circle passed it to Chad Billins at the point. Billins then found Blair Jones at the top of the left circle for a one-timer of his own that got past Magnus Hellberg.

It was not long before the Admirals found the net again when Salomaki drove the left lane and snuck one short side past Ortio to put the Admirals up 3-1 at 6;41 of the second.

The score became 3-2 when Markus Granlund sent a backhander by Hellberg as he was being checked to the ice.

Abbotsford was able to tie the game up with 9:47 left to play. The goal came off an odd man rush when Greg Nemisz drove the left lane and passed the puck to Corban Knight. Knight then fed Nemisz for the goal. No team was able to score the rest of regulation so it went to overtime.

Anthony Bitetto got called for high-sticking with 1:50 left in the overtime period and 13 seconds later Ben Street was able to win the game off a nice feed from Chad Billins.

The Admirals travel to Grand Rapids tomorrow night to play the Grand Rapids Griffins before hosting the Chicago Wolves for another installment of the Amtrak Rivalry. Fans can purchase tickets by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or by logging onto www.ticketmaster.com. Groups of 10 or more receive significant discounts off the original ticket price. For more information, or to purchase group tickets, fans can call the Admirals office at (414) 227-0550.

Don’t forget to follow the Admirals on Twitter (@mkeadmirals) and on Facebook.